<p>“Knowing which part of the business to invest in is one of the biggest issues facing today’s business leaders – particularly as mergers, acquisitions and diversification have created complex organisations with multiple brands, product categories, geographies and distribution channels,” said Russell Evans, Managing Director, Hyperion Solutions Australia/New Zealand. “Ultimately, businesses need to determine where future investment will have the most payback for the company. To do this they need to be able to really understand how each part of the business affects the value of the company.”</p><p>In the US, Brown-Forman, maker of Jack Daniel’s whisky, Finlandia vodka and Southern Comfort – amid a range of other brands and product categories – uses Hyperion Strategic Finance to track brand value and return on investment per brand – quickly and easily, enabling rapid action on product investment decisions.</p><p>“Australia is a mature market and, like the US, is embracing value-based management. Brown-Forman is an example of an issue faced by many local companies – when marketing budgets are tight, which brand should you invest in? It doesn’t have to be a gamble – you just need insight to your business,” Evans added.</p><p>Brown-Forman Increases Brand Performance With Hyperion Strategic FinanceMajor American Consumer Goods Manufacturer Analyses Brand Spending Pay-Off</p><p>SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 24, 2004 – Hyperion (Nasdaq: HYSL), the global leader in Business Performance Management software, today announced that Brown-Forman Corporation has decreased its brand scenario planning time from months to days with the implementation of Hyperion Strategic Finance. Brand scenario planning includes valuation, forecasting cash flows and estimating brand value per share – knowledge required to determine if brand investments are actually creating increased brand value.</p><p>Brown-Forman (www.brown-forman.com), located in Louisville, Kentucky, is a diversified producer and marketer of consumer products and is one of the largest U.S.-owned companies in the wine and spirits business. The company’s product portfolio includes well-known brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Finlandia, Southern Comfort, Korbel champagnes, Fetzer and Bolla wines, Lenox china and crystal and Dansk giftware. The company uses Hyperion Strategic Finance for brand scenario planning for 35 brands and 200 possible brand-market combinations.</p><p>Hyperion Strategic Finance is used by Brown-Forman’s financial team to determine the value of a particular brand on a per-share basis, as well as the consolidated value of the business as a whole. The company also uses Hyperion Strategic Finance to calculate the return on brand investment per brand, justify media costs and forecast the demand that will be generated from particular brands. This level of insight enables Brown-Forman to build a case – based on concrete data – for or against investment in a particular brand and to reallocate financial resources as necessary to optimise brand value and performance. Prior to implementing Hyperion Strategic Finance, Brown-Forman’s scenario planning was accomplished through a cumbersome monthly process of collecting and updating numerous spreadsheets – a method both time-consuming and prone to human error.</p><p>“Understanding, maintaining and growing brand value is at the heart of our business,” said Kevin Patrick, assistant vice president, finance director for Brown-Forman. “With Hyperion Strategic Finance, we can now manage our business from a value perspective. We have a great deal of flexibility in developing scenario planning and seeing the impact on the overall brand value. From a financial perspective, that makes it by far the most important analytical tool in the company.”</p><p>“With Hyperion Strategic Finance, Brown-Forman managers can easily tap into information that was previously buried in disparate spreadsheets and quickly convert that information into meaningful action,” said Rich Clayton, vice president of product marketing for Hyperion. “Having that kind of knowledge at their fingertips allows them to make informed and accurate business decisions efficiently and with confidence.”</p><p>About HyperionHyperion is the global leader in Business Performance Management software. More than 9,000 customers – including 91 of the FORTUNE 100 – rely on Hyperion software to translate strategies into plans, monitor execution and provide insight to improve financial and operational performance. Hyperion combines the most complete set of interoperable applications with the leading business intelligence platform to support and create Business Performance Management solutions. A network of more than 600 partners provides the company’s innovative and specialised solutions and services.</p><p>Named one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For 2004, Hyperion employs approximately 2,600 people in 20 countries. Distributors represent Hyperion in an additional 25 countries. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Hyperion – together with recently acquired Brio Software Inc. – generated combined annual revenues of $612 million for the 12 months ending June 30, 2003. Hyperion is traded under the NASDAQ symbol HYSL. For more information, please visit www. hyperion.com, www.hyperion.com/contactus or call 800 286 8000 (U.S. only).</p><p># # #</p><p>Safe Harbour StatementStatements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements concerning the potential success of anticipated product features, the anticipated product offerings and the potential market opportunities for business performance management software. Such statements constitute anticipated outcomes and do not assure results. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to the company's ability to retain and attract key employees, the successful and timely development of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, customer demand, and technological shifts. For a more detailed discussion of factors that could affect the company's performance and cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, interested parties should review the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Report on Form 10-K filed on August 13, 2003 and the Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2004. The company does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.</p><p>“Hyperion,” the Hyperion “H” logo and Hyperion’s product names are trademarks of Hyperion. References to other companies and their products use trademarks owned by the respective companies and are for reference purpose only.</p><p>Media Contact:Claire HosegoodPh (02) 9976 6611Email claire@kinetics.com.au</p>

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